


The Disposables

by anipwrites



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, I don't think any of the descriptions in the story so far are graphic, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, POV Alternating, POV Third Person, Rated T for swearing, Suicide Squad AU, be warned anyways, rated T for some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-09-20 18:13:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9504590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anipwrites/pseuds/anipwrites
Summary: Ladybug and Chat Noir, though heroes of Paris, aren't technically controlled by the Parisian government. So when a new threat, called 'Akumas' endangers the citizens of Paris, the Defense Against Villainous Meta-Human Threats Department decides, rather than endangering agents, who better to use than metahumans they can control? Based on Tumblr's Tides-Miraculous' Suicide Squad AU.(Rated for language)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (Gosh this is probably the most nervous I've ever been to post a fanfic since I first posted fanfic.)  
> Welcome to The Disposables, a Miraculous Ladybug Suicide Squad AU fic! The original AU was created by tides-miraculous on Tumblr, and I am honored to have been given permission to write this! The original posts for it can be seen [here](http://tides-miraculous.tumblr.com/tagged/suicide-squad-au)  
> It won't be following the exact plot of the movie Suicide Squad; I'm hoping you guys like this!  
> This chapter was beta-read by wishfulina and flautist4ever , who are both on Tumblr!

Nino absolutely _hated_ this jail.

Granted, he'd probably hate just about any jail, but this was the jail he was in so this was the one he hated. From the quality of jails he'd heard about before, this jail was absolutely detestable. The officers seemed quite fond of beating him unconscious for fun, or shocking him with their tasers just to hear him scream. He did his best not to pleasure them with it.

But the beatings weren't even the worst part. He'd been knocked around a few times, in his years in the shadows. The worst part about being imprisoned was that, when all was quiet and the officers were too busy to mess around with him, there was nothing to do but think. Not even pace, just sit in his cot and think. He could lay down and stare at the ceiling, or he could sit up and stare at the wall, hang upside-down, anything. Nothing changed the train of thought. He always thought back to his years in the Metagene Facility, with good old Ivan and a good many scientists setting some kid in all sorts of dangerous situations to test his capabilities.

After they'd escaped, he and Ivan had stuck together for awhile, until they got separated by some of the scientists trying to hunt him down. He wasn't sure if Ivan had been caught, or if he managed to get away, but he couldn't worry about it. He had to survive, with or without him. So he'd sold himself out to all kinds of people; the ability to control water was pretty good for getting information from people, or wreaking havoc whenever he wanted to or was asked to.

He didn't technically go to school. He'd made friends with some kid-Carter Stowes or something-who would teach him what he could. Science was pretty useful to him. He was just beginning to hope that maybe, if he got some new clothes and kept his powers in check, he could blend in and have a good future or whatever. Do something that involved being around the water, something with oceans. But Carter Stowes, as it turned out, liked Ladybug and Chat Noir-heroes of the city-more than he cared about his friends. First chance he got, he'd ratted him out to the supers and set up a trap for him, in the middle of the summer heat. He'd been forced to surrender when any puddles nearby dried up and he lost too much water to sweat (damn hoodie), and sent to the Francoise-Dupont Penitentiary for Metahuman Criminals. There he was, left to rot for who knows how long, any hopes of seeing water outside of a small drinking cup dashed. His fingers still tingled with the need to use his powers on something-something, in such a way that the small forms he could make with drinking water weren't enough.

His life was hell. He sure hoped Ivan wasn't going through this.

* * *

Ivan was bored out of his goddamn mind.

Fuck Ladybug. Fuck Chat Noir. Fuck da police. Fuck everybody.

He punched the wall again. The small dent was getting bigger. Maybe? He'd been at it for a year now, maybe more? It's hard to keep track of time at Francoise-Dupont, the surest sign of passing time being the guards coming with food, drink, and trying to beat the snot out of him.

He'd been living the life before all of this. After escaping a facility full of maniac scientists, he and a friend had been trying to find a place for people like them. Though they were separated eventually, Ivan had found that place; Timebreaker and Horrificator. They'd been the best friends-and the only friends-he could have asked for in a while. They'd dallied in all sorts of crimes, rigging buildings with explosives and scaring the shit out of people just for the hell of it. With his stony appearance and Horrificator's abilities, it was easy. They'd been caught up in a few fights with other metas who didn't like their definition of fun, but could hide out with the Mime's goonies until they were caught. They'd all been forced into this place, but knowing that someone was suffering probably as much as he was, as horrible may this be, made him feel just a bit better. He could take it. But he'd kill anyone who touched Horrificator. On. the. Spot.

* * *

Jail sucked.

She knew that beforehand. Her dad had been in jail multiple times. He'd always managed to bust out. Usually she didn't get caught up in it. The life of crime wasn't for her. But then she got sick. Deathly sick. No end to the constant pain in sight, because she was too damn stubborn to just close her eyes forever. Her father searched every corner of the black market for a cure, but none was to be found. They'd lost hope until someone approached him with a solutions.

"There may be side effects," they added before they left.

Side effects, her ass. Sure, whatever concoction she'd drunk that night had cured her and stopped the pain, but it went… too far, she could only say. She wasn't the same, quiet girl she'd been before. But there were some plus sides. She'd always loved spooking her father and his associates, and now it was much easier to scare just about everyone. Granted, she had sharp teeth, purple blotches of skin, a third eye, and a tail, but it was fun for awhile.

The added features lost their novelty, especially after the Mob got used to her… 'quirks.', which basically meant they weren't scared of her as much, but rather saw her as some beast that needed to be caged. So she went out and found a few new friends; Timebreaker took her in first, and later they met Ivan. They had tons of fun together, robbing banks and blasting up buildings and doing some of the work Mime and his gang couldn't be bothered with. It was fantastic!

But they got too bold. They decided to raid a bank during the evening, just before closing. With hostages involved, it took no time for Ladybug and Chat Noir to show up with a _huge_ police force. They managed to escape and tried to hide at the abandoned theatre where the Mime held his operations, as always, but… the only problem was that, as night fell, Chat Noir's costume was pretty hard to see in the dark. They all were busted, and the entire organization was arrested and brought to Francoise-Dupont.

So now Horrificator was back to being caged and treated like an animal. Not even like a pet; there were no scratching posts or any sort of enrichment you'd see in a house or even a high-quality zoo. Just a cot, steel bars, and a cold concrete floor with hay all over it. They seriously expected her to use the hay? That was gross!

Alarms had gone off a few weeks ago. Since then, security had upped the ante. Someone had managed to get free. Was it one of her friends? Her father? Why didn't they come for her?

Had they ever cared at all?

* * *

Alix knew each and every single spot in her cell that she could plant a bomb in and get out. Assuming the other cells had the same layout, she could probably slip out and free her friends too.

Only problem was, she had no bombs. No bombs, no flares, no skates, she couldn't even get a stick of bubblegum in this place!

It had been a year in this hellhole, and it sucked. Without her bombs and skates, she had come to realize that there was literally nothing special about her. Ivan and Mylene, they were metahumans. Every hero and villain in town seemed to have the metagene in them-except the Splotches, from what she'd heard. If they even existed. They were a myth, practically a legend. They'd never been caught on camera, let alone caught by cops. Anyone who ever ran into them, it seemed, didn't live to tell the tale.

Why were they keeping her in here so long?! What were they planning to do with her? Did she have some sort of life sentence? Were they going to execute her? Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised. She'd planted so many bombs in her life and done so much crime for the Mime, she probably killed at least a few people.

Probably. Maybe more than a few. Blow up warehouses full of enemies of the Mime after they'd squeezed all useable information out of them? No way. Actually, definitely, she'd done that a few times.

Were her friends okay? Metahumans or no, they were still her friends; even if she hadn't seen them in a year. All she wanted was to be out there, on the prowl, spooking people and making some quick cash and watching buildings explode from the roof of another. Would she ever get that back?

* * *

Alya may be in jail, but she still had her pride. She wouldn't let any guards near her, let them touch her, none of that. They may have taken away her prosthetics and left her with one arm, one eye, and an eyepatch (which was _anything_ but fair, in her honest opinion), but she was still tough without them. And she let it be known that she hated it here. Every single day for the past four months she'd been here, she'd memorize the guards' schedules. Every time one even so much as glanced at her cell, she spit at them. And she could make their phones go wonky too. Although they may not be as strong without the limb enhancements she'd had, she still had the 'super gene'. Hers gave her the ability to mess with electronic waves. Wasn't enough to get through the security system though. That sucked.

She knew she was going to be here a long time. Selling yourself out as an assassin would get you put away for a long time, if not for life. She'd known that when she signed up. But she was hoping that maybe, just maybe, someone would come bust her out. But why would that happen? Assassins tended to make more enemies than friends. Those who paid for her services could barely be considered acquaintances, let alone someone who would bust her out of such a high-security prison. She was looking at a long, dreary future of stale walls and bad food.

* * *

Nathaniel huffed and let loose a sigh that shifted into a groan, leaning his head back. Ink wouldn't leave him alone today. They kept asking him to let them take full control of his body, to succumb to the darkness or some other dumb shit. And frankly, he was tired of it.

Reflekta looked over, still polishing her blades. "Everything okay, Dessi?"

"Ink won't shut the fuck up."

' _I am a being of eternal darkness and destruction, I will_ not _be shutting the fuck up anytime soon! You have no power over me, you weak mortal!'_

"Oh yeah, then why am I the one in control and not you?" he muttered.

"Tell Ink to shut the fuck up." the pink-clad assassin seemed mildly amused by the events taking place. Nathaniel would be offended, except he didn't really care at all.

"Shut the fuck up, Ink."

' _No! I refuse! You cannot control me, my screeching will not cease until you let me take over! She can go to the seventh circle of hell and suck cocks for the rest of eternity, I'll kill her, I'll kill her dumb girlfriend, I'll-'_

"They said no. Also, they're threatening death upon you and Princess."

"Okay. I did my best. Sorry, mate, you're gonna have to deal."

"Okay, no worries, I've got this in the bag." Nathaniel crossed his arms and focused on anything except the hissing demon in his head. He lifted a hand, and let his shadow turn to ink before twisting it into different shapes. Maybe Ink would get tired out, and then stop talking as much.

Footsteps. Reflekta glanced up at the ceiling, where the higher levels of the bunker they lived in were. Princess Fragrance must've come home from her private gig.

Sure enough, the gas-masked gal came down the last of the stairs, taking off her helmet and flipping a few strands of hair off her face. Her girlfriend grinned. "Hey, Fragrance,"

"Hello, Reflekta! Don't hug me yet, I think I mixed the gases wrong, it might burn you." The girl warned, stepping back when her girlfriend came to hug and kiss her. Reflekta clearly understood. Not every mix was perfect, and it was usually hard to tell until they were in use. She let Fragrance glide by to the showers. The blonde paused a moment. "Hey, Dessi, hey, Ink! What's up!"

' _Your mother sucks cock in hell, bitch!'_

"Ink is being an ass today, they don't deserve any acknowledgement."

"Oh, shame. Be right back," Rose stepped into the shower area and closed the door. Nathaniel sighed and stood to check out what all they had to eat. He needed to be ready for their next commission, which was later that night. It wouldn't do to be hungry.

Tonight, they'd been asked to steal some files from some secret lab operating under the rubble of the old Lloyd and Francis Financial Company building, which had been blown up a few years ago and never rebuilt. They could kill anyone who got in their way, as long as they cause minimum harm to the lead scientist himself and brought him in along with the files. In return for his capture and the papers, they'd be paid a few hundred thousand dollars, nearing a million. Which was on the cheap end, but they'd 'negotiate' the price a bit more once they'd finished the job.

Princess Fragrance came back out of the showers and immediately gave Reflekta a kiss. Nathaniel stuck his tongue out playfully. Really, he didn't mind it at all, but it was fun messing around with them.

"Dessinateur, grab a mask, we're gonna go soon." Nathaniel looked up from the apple he'd claimed and grabbed a gasmask, only half-putting it on so he could finish his food. He never really wore it, never really needed it, but he at least brought it with him to make the Princess feel better.

Reflekta was standing in the mirror with the grease paints, carefully painting around her eyes and on her eyelids. She needed it to hide her identity as well as possible; she worked a small part-time in some gothic book store, if her identity was found out she'd surely be arrested. Any of them were. Fragrance always said they took an abnormal amount of risks for assassins. Dessinateur could often be found selling some of his artworks in a studio, and the Princess herself worked in a Lush store in downtown Paris. But they were so good at hiding their identities, it hardly mattered anyways. They destroyed any security cameras they came across on their gigs, and killed anyone who saw them or brought them in to their clients. Plus, they liked having something to do other than sitting in their bunker all day.

"Evillustrator, you almost ready?" Reflekta turned from her paints.

"Yeah, I'm good." Nathaniel nodded, tossing his apple core in a trash bin. His friend shot him a look.

"You don't even have your sword."

"Oh, oops!" he ran to his corner of the bunker and got it from under his blanket. Princess Fragrance frowned.

"That's really unsafe, Dessi. You could seriously hurt yourself." she said.

"To be fair, if someone finds their way in here, I won't have to run across the room before I can fight them. Also, Reflekta is literally putting on grease paint with giant knives on her wrists. And your gas mask doesn't even cover your eyes, so there!" The two girls looked at each other, their faces shifting into an 'oh shit he's right' kind of look. Nathaniel couldn't help but grin at the two as they scrambled to make an excuse. "Now, c'mon, let's go do our job."

"Deal." They headed to the garage to get into the car they'd stolen a while ago, and drove off.

When they got to the location, they parked the car in an abandoned parking garage nearby before trying to find the best place to sneak in. A hole in the rubble provided enough space to squeeze in. Reflekta didn't like the looks of it, but after another few searches around, it was all they could find.

"This seems like a trap, guys."she huffed, crossing her arms as she watched Nathaniel slip inside.

"C'mon, sweetheart, we've got this." Fragrance gave her a peck on the cheek

"Who puts a secret lab under the rubble of a bank in the middle of downtown?"

"We're living in a secret bunker just on the outskirts of town. Is this really that different?" Nathaniel shrugged. "Let's just go kill some shit and get our cash."

"Oh, see, look, there's a door just behind here!" Princess Fragrance grinned. "There probably really is something under here!"

"...alright. Fine. But I still don't like this." she sighed before sliding in behind them. Rose opened the door and they all drew their weapons. Nathaniel took a deep breath and let the inky darkness inside run to his fingertips and face. His veins filled with black, and the ink in his face looked like a mask.

It was dark. Quite the opposite of what they were expecting for a secret research facility. Rose stepped in first, trying to see in the darkness. The others followed, trying their best as well. It was too quiet, too dark, something wasn't right here.

When the spotlights flared to life and blinded them, they realized Reflekta was right; it was a trap. A damned, dirty trap.

They were surrounded. The fucking National Police had them surrounded, all weapons drawn and ready to shoot. Amongst them? Ladybug and Chat Noir. Because, of course they were.

"Juleka Couffaine! Rose Lavillant! Nathaniel Kurtzberg! Lay down your weapons, and we can do this peacefully!" Ladybug ordered, spinning her yoyo. Her leather-clad partner stood by her side, spinning his baton.

The small team shuddered. They rarely used their real names, even with each other. Hearing their old names, their old identities, while dressed in the new sent chills down their spines. This was some serious shit going down.

They all looked at each other. What should they do? Were they going to stand down, or fight to the death? With such a bright light, the shadows were pretty strong, especially on the outskirts of the beams. If he could just…

In the space of half a second, Rose shot a stream of thick pink smoke into the crowd. It was strong-smelling, and sent half the cops backing up. The others started shooting. A bullet grazed Juleka's arm, but she ignored it in favor of trying to get back to the door. Nathnael tugged the gas mask he'd brought over his face. This was the only chance they were going to get to escape, if they didn't pull it off now it'd never happen. They all knew that.

"Lucky charm!" Ladybug's voice shouted through the smoke and darkness, even as Chat Noir roared "Cataclysm!" They needed to get out of there before-

All of the smoke was suddenly sucked away, revealing their location to the rest of the officers. They were nearly to the door, but before anything could be done Chat Noir leaped between them and forced them back. His gloved hand shot out for Rose's face, the green and black energy of pure chaos billowing around his hand. Nathaniel swung with his sword, but the cat-boy leaped over it and went for _him_ instead, his hand crashing into his gas mask before he twisted and slammed it into Rose's before all of the power was used up. They cracked and crumbled to pieces. Juleka tried to stab him through the back, but he avoided it and she barely missed hitting Rose. The blonde hero grinned before pulling down a gasmask of his own. What game were they playing-

A cloudy white gas began to fill the area. Nathaniel held his breath instinctively, trying to avoid whatever effect it would have, and attempted to wrestle Chat Noir away from the wall. But he had to breathe, his lungs were killing him. After the first few breaths, he began to feel weightless. The edges of his vision darkened, and he felt his eyelids getting heavy. No, he couldn't let himself fall asleep, they needed to get out of there-

A silver baton struck him in the face, and stars danced across his eyes, and then there was nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe Bourgeois has a 'genius' idea and gets positions of power she doesn't really deserves. Max calls her out on this.  
> Meanwhile, the 'meta-freaks' have no idea why they're being dragged out of their jail cells and are frankly quite concerned about what the hell is going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Welcome back to my story!  
> Oh my gosh, the feedback and attention this story has been getting is overwhelming and awesome and you guys are great and amazing!!! I was actually really scared to post this story at first but you guys have been so supportive!!! Thanks so much!!  
> As appreciation to you, and all my readers, this chapter is part of a Valentine's Day Fic Bomb--my stories The Living Nightmare and Ain't Clowning Around were updated tonight as well! I might also do a President's Day Drabble Dump, if I get enough finished in time.  
> This chapter was beta-ed by wishfulina and Flautist4ever, both of who are on Tumblr! Thanks so much guys!!  
> The original idea, of course, still and always will belong to Tides-Miraculous from Tumblr! Thanks so so so much for letting me use this!  
> With that, I'll leave you to reading! I hope you enjoy it!

There was a problem. 

Nothing Andre Bourgeois, Leader of the Defense Against Villainous Meta-Human Threats Department couldn’t handle, of course! This was all just a very tiny, very minor problem that would all certainly just blow over soon! Nothing seriously serious! Sure, only ‘serious’ problems ever made it to his desk, but nothing serious! It was only a few dozen people in Paris disappearing off the maps and then reappearing all of a sudden with powers trying to attack the city, and no one knew how or why or who was behind it if anyone. Nothing serious!

Actually, no, this was deadly serious.

“And you’re telling me Ladybug and Chat Noir have come up with nothing?” he asked, heaving a heavy sigh as he sank further back into his chair. The agent at his desk shook his head no.

“Nothing solid. They have started using the term ‘Akuma’ to refer to these victims, however. They’ve begun to suggest magic, sir, and we’ve come up with no other possible leads, perhaps--”

“No no no, magic doesn’t exist. Magic! Bah, nonsense! I need time to think, leave me be.” 

“Yes, sir.” the agent nodded and left, closing the door to his office. Andre let himself relax and laid back in his chair, staring at the ceiling as he let his mind wander.

“Daddy?” Andre looked up to see his daughter. She was serving as his intern, though he’d decided the work was too much for her to handle. She’d still kept the position, and was sure to inherit his position in the force when the time came, but she mostly sat in his office. A small part of him worried that she may not be getting the experience necessary for such a high-maintenance position. But only a small part. Easy to ignore.

“Yes, darling?”

“Why not get some of those meta-freaks to do it?”

“”Excuse me?”

“I mean, let them fight the guys going bad and figure out all of that nonsense for you. If they get hurt, no one will really care, I mean. And if they notice connections to someone we haven’t caught yet, we can just take the information and find the guy and boom. Problem solved.” the girl shrugged and flipped her hair. “I think it’s a fabulous idea. They do the dirty work, and we take the credit.”

“Sweetheart, that’s a fabulous idea! Here, I’ll put you in charge, I’ll organize your team and give you a leadership position, it’ll be the perfect opportunity for you to show me what you’re made of! I’ll arrange everything, you just sit back and relax!” Andre picked up the phone and dialed a number, writing notes down on a steno pad. “Hello, Edward? Yes, I need you to inform all of the agents of my new plan to fix this ‘Akuma’ problem…”

Chloe Bourgeois grinned and curled up in her chair, flipping through her fashion magazine. She always knew she’d get places, this was just another step there. Who cared if she had to step on the faces of a few meta-human low-lifes to get there?

* * *

“I’m sorry, you need me to  _ what?! _ ” Kingston Damocles’ jaw hung in shock at the preposterous request he had just been given.

“I need you to release a few villains and send them down to my Department.” Andre Bourgeois said from the other line.

“That’s insane! I can’t just release random villains, that’d be absolutely chaotic!”

“They aren’t random, I’ve selected which ones, if you’d just listen, I’ll read it to you.”

“I can’t do that”

“As your boss, yes you can.”

“But--”

“I could always replace you, Damocles, watch your next words.” he stiffened. Oh god, he really did need this job, but this was insane and couldn’t possibly go well! These prisoners were violent, many of them had powers that the harnesses couldn’t fully control, one or more of the officers could be killed while doing this! But…

He relented with a sigh. “Who do you need me to release?”

“Good job, Damocles. Now then, I need you to release...” Damocles wrote the names down, his frown deepening as the list went on. This definitely wasn’t going to end well.

What was Bourgeois thinking?

* * *

Nino heard the footsteps coming before he fully awakened from sleep. The heavy clunking of boots on the steel floors were pretty loud; prison guards weren’t all that great at stealth. It sounded like maybe, what, eight guards? Eight against one? That didn’t seem like much of a fair fight! 

Didn’t matter. He wasn’t going down without a fight. Not today.

He was already up on his feet when they came for him, hands balled into fists. Faintly, he remembered someone mention ‘blood bending,’ someone had asked if he was able to do it before. He hadn’t really felt the need to investigate; waterboarding had always worked fine. But something told him that, with this many guards coming after him? Now was the time to find out.

As soon as the first guard opened the gate, Nino clenched his hand into a fist. A self-satisfied smirk crossed his face as the man fell to the ground, coughing and gasping and writhing in desperation. He could blood bend. Nice.

A few guards dropped to his side to try to help the man, but the other four immediately launched themselves after him. He punched one in the face, then twisted to kick another in the groin, and tried to make a break towards the door. A guard grabbed his arm, but he flicked a finger and the man stumbled back, clutching his chest. Two guards accidentally ran into him and fell down. Nino was almost home free, from there he just had to--

‘Fuck,’ was the only thought going through his head as he tripped over the guy on the ground. Before he could pick himself up, the guards pinned him down, digging a knee into his back and clipping something onto his wrists and ankles. Near-immediately, he felt like all of his energy was draining out of him, He tried to struggle, but every movement exhausted his muscles so much it was painful to move. The guards lifted him up, and it was all he could do to not cry out in pain as he was carried out. They may have won this fight, but he wasn’t going to give them any more pleasure for it.

As he was carried through the halls of the prison, he heard shouts from other directions. He wasn’t the only one who was being taken, it seems. But when a legion of guards came around a corner carting some prisoners with them, his jaw dropped.

“Ivan?!?!” he gasped. The boy was too busy struggling and shouting to hear. Beside him, two girls were trying to shake the grip of their captors. One didn’t even have the glowing shackles like the rest of them. Lucky. 

They were dragged into a loading dock and shoved into a carrier plane. The door was slammed shut in their faces before anyone could ask what the hell was going on. They were left in silence except for the sound of the copter going off. No weapons or anything were back here. And even if there were, Nino wasn’t sure he could lift his arms enough to use them. The shackles just made everything heavy and hard to move.

“...Nino?” the boy turned at the sound of his name to see Ivan staring at him incredulously. Nino’s face broke out into a grin.

“Hey,”

“Where have you been?!”

“Before here, I assume? Working for a few people who had a lot of people they needed to get a lot of information out of.”

“Oh, I joined up with these two and we’ve been blowing up buildings and robbing banks and doing dirty work for the Mime.”

“He’s not here with us… do you think he’s okay?” a shorter girl asked, inching closer to Ivan. The tall behemoth managed to wrap an arm around her.

“I’m sure he’s fine, Mylene. He wouldn’t let himself go down, not without a big fight.”

“What do you think they’re gonna do to us?” they all turned to another voice. A girl with a mess of tangled curls, one arm, and an eyepatch sat not too far away. She also didn’t have the cuffs, but would they have worked without both hands? “I mean, I’ve been in there a few months now and nothing like this has happened.”

“I’ve been here for about six or more. Your guess is as good as mine.”

Nino scowled. He didn’t like the way things were looking for them. The plane fell silent as they all wondered what could happen to them. Had the government finally decided they were eligible for a death penalty of some sort? Or were they going to be experimented on, treated like lab rats since they were criminals no one would dare advocate for?

Dear god, Nino hoped they weren’t going to be experimented on.

But they could do nothing but wait. Wait for whatever fate lay ahead of them at their destination. They felt powerless. Not just because of the shackles that had rendered them unable to use their powers. But, rather, because no matter what happened--no matter what the government had in store for them--they couldn’t stop it. 

* * *

“Alright, sweetheart, here’s your new team!” Her father gushed as he lead Chloe into the room where her team was apparently waiting. “Oh my goodness, my daughter with her first government operation! I need to take pictures!”

“Of course, Daddy!” they paused to take a quick selfie before opening the door. Inside sat a team of people around a board table, with three people standing at the front of the room. And, of course, she knew those three.

The first was her best friend, Sabrina Raincomprix. Her father was a military officer, but the girl herself leaned more towards secretaryship than leading covert operations. They’d known each other since they were small, in the day care while their parents worked. She always loved being around her, whether she was working for her or shopping with her, and Chloe was sure she’d been the very first person to volunteer for the job. Such early displays of loyalty brought a smile to her face. 

The other two people in the room had also been in daycare with her; Le Chein Kim, and Max Kante. Kim’s father was in the military, and was well trained and knew a lot about military procedures and how to conduct them from his years in the service, some as a soldier and some as an agent spy. Sure, he was a good pick, but… he always made googly eyes at her. He looked like a doofus every time she came around. And all of his stupid challenges; he thought that, because he had been trained so well, he could beat anyone and anything doing any kind of activity. Of course, he could, but it was irritating. If he kept that attitude up with the convicts, she’d be forced to discipline him.

Finally, Max. Max was a genius. He was a living encyclopedia, a walking college math textbook, and a computer whiz. He could hack almost anything within minutes… when he felt like it. He was tapping away on his phone until he realized she was there; probably playing some stupid video game or messing around with some dumb code. He was hard to manage. He had his own office, since he was one of the best computer operators in the agency, but it was more of a giant arcade than a work space. Any assignments he got was done within minutes, even busy work, so they couldn’t exactly reprimand him for toying around on the job because he was  _ done  _ with his assignments for the day within the first hour he walked in the door. A good asset to the team, if they could get him to focus for a few goddamn minutes.

Andre Bourgeois cleared his throat, catching the attention of the rest of the room. “Ladies and gentlemen, your coordinator and leader, Chloe Bourgeois. I trust you’ve all familiarized yourselves with your assignments. I don’t want any trouble. Chloe?”

“That’s right, I don’t want any trouble, so you’d all do best to stay on my good side! Now, then, we’re getting some of the most notorious meta-human criminals in the country sent to this base  _ as we speak,  _ so I don’t want any fooling around! Follow my orders, and everything will be fine. Don’t follow my orders, and this can be a disaster. So--”

“Mister and Miss Bourgeois, ETA: 3 minutes, T minus 30 seconds.” Max interrupted, looking at his phone before back up at them. Chloe felt the heat rise in her cheeks as her hands balled into fists. How dare he interrupt her?!

“Excuse me, I’m in charge here?! How dare you interrupt me in the middle of my--”

“Thank you, Max. He did just as told, Chloe. You need to go oversee the arrival of the prisoners.” her father interrupted her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Chloe nodded before turning to the door.

“Alright. Sabrina, Kim, Max, come with me. You too, bodyguards.” she pointed at each of them and snapped for them to hurry up before leaving, the people she called tailing after her.

“Aren’t you so excited we’re working together?!” Sabrina chirped, running up alongside her. “We get to hang out, and solve government problems together, and I’ll do all the paperwork and you’ll do all the leading and this will be so fun!”

“Yeah, whatever, just make sure you get that dumb paperwork done on time. Hell, even get Max to help you with it if you want.”

“Uh, how about we don’t?” Max grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Excuse me? You’ll help Sabrina with her paperwork if I tell you to.”

“Yeah, right, I’ve got better things to do.”

“Like what, play your dumb video games?”

“The video games aren’t ‘dumb’, they increase my hand-eye coordination should I need to use the gun we’re all quipped with and--”

“Clearly, they’re not working, you haven’t even passed the test!”

“Neither have you, Chloe--”

“It’s  _ Miss Bourgeois  _ to you, Kante,”

“Whatever, Chloe, but may I remind you that the only reason you have this position at all is because, even though you’re entirely unqualified for the job, your nepotistic father gave an intern position  _ and  _ a head position in an extremely important operation that should be taken far more seriously than--”

“Shut up, Max, Chloe’s perfectly qualified to do the job!” Kim interrupted, sending him a glare. Max sputtered, outraged, but couldn’t get his mouth to form any proper words.

“Kim’s got the right idea, Max. Chloe did come up with the idea for this operation, so she deserves the position more than anyone! She’s getting experience by doing this, nobody starts off working here with experience.” Sabrina added.

“That’s like saying the manager of some bakery is fit to rule all of France! Which, by the way, they aren’t! And someone who already  _ has  _ experience should be leading a major operation, and someone who  _ doesn’t  _ should be, like, an intern or something! And, no, Chloe doesn’t count, she’s only been Bourgeois’ intern for two months and has done nothing but sit on her ass and sip on triple-macchiato lattes!” Max said.

“Oh, as if you don’t do that too!” Kim crossed his arms.

“I play my games  _ after  _ I get my work done, and only then! Chloe, on the other hand, doesn’t get any work in the first place!”

“Well, she’s Bourgeois’ daughter, so she’s gotta know  _ something  _ about--”

“Shut up, guys, we’re here.” the group fell silent as they approached a giant window, where the plane hangar was on the floor below. The plane wasn’t there yet, but Max’s phone buzzed, revealing that it should be there in another thirty seconds. They all stood at the window, watching as agents scrambled to and fro to secure all of the security in case things went awry. They heard the thunder of the chopper blades as the heli-carrier landed until they slowed to a stop. Dozens of agents and guards bomb rushed the plane as the gates were opened. The prisoners were dragged out of the plane, kicking and screaming. Max… almost felt bad.

“Sabrina, who are  _ those? _ ” Chloe scoffed.

“Um… those would be the Bubbler, Stoneheart, Horrificator, and… I don’t recognize the other two. Oh! Your father said they were Timebreaker and Lady Wifi!”

“What?! These villains aren’t even good ones! We need the good villains! I’m calling Daddy and telling him to get me better villains, the Mime or  _ somebody-- _ ”

“Actually, Chloe--”

“What?!”

“...we have the Splotches.”

“...oh. That’s a lot better, actually.” Chloe crossed her arms with a satisfied smirk. 

“Everything seems to be going according to procedure… I think it should be safe to go down and debrief them.”

“To… wha?” Chloe blinked dumbly.

“Y’know, tell them what’s up and why they’re here and all.” Kim raised an eyebrow, beginning to doubt if Chloe was actually qualified at all.

“It’s standard procedure with agents, Chloe.” Max added, adjusting his glasses.

“Well, th-they aren’t agents, why should we debrief them?!”

“Because they need to know what their mission is in order to complete it, don’t they? Also, since they’re technically doing the same job several other agents have been working on for quite some time, they need to be debriefed on what we know and don’t know about the situation and--”

“Uhm. What  _ do  _ we know about the situation?” 

Max pinched his nose and let out a sigh. “I’ll just do the debriefing, or Sabrina can, since we actually know what we’re doing--”

“N-no! I’m the head of this assignment, I will be the one debriefing them!”

“ _ You  _ need to be debriefed, you don’t even know what we’re doing or what we know!”

“Then someone tell me!”

“We can just debrief you at the same time we debrief the others!”

“No, tell me  _ now! _ ”

Max leaned his head back and let out a groan, walking towards where the prisoners were sure to be. “Fine, fine! Sabrina, tell her the shit she needs to know and let’s just get this over with!”

The rest of the group tagged along behind him. Sabrina enthusiastically explaining the inner workings of the agency and the mission goal and all that jazz to her while the lazy blonde pulled out a nail file and paid more attention to the curve of her nails and her cuticles than the extremely important government information that was being shared with her. Max had the feeling that he would be doing a lot more of the leading than Chloe was. And yet she dared to call  _ him  _ lazy?! As if.

This was going to be a  _ long  _ operation for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter keeps you excited for what's to come! The next chapter will be way shorter, but Chapter 4 will be longer than this one, even, so stay tuned! (PS: I'll probably upload both of them at the same time to make up for the short length of the first one).  
> For those who may be interested, I do art streams on Twitch usually at least once a week, on the weekends. If you want to hop in, they usually start around 6:30-7:30, and I'll be painting a drawing I did of Nathanael's Vulpes costume from my fic, "Ain't Clowning Around!" [ Here's a link! ](https://www.twitch.tv/anipwrites)  
> Follow Tides on Tumblr at [tides-miraculous](http://tides-miraculous.tumblr.com/)  
> Follow [ wishfulina](wishfulina.tumblr.com)  
> Follow [flautist4ever](flautist4ever.tumblr.com)  
> Or follow me at [anipwrites](http://anipwrites.tumblr.com/), or my art-only blog [anip-art!](http://anip-art.tumblr.com/)  
> Happy Valentines Day! I hope you have a good day, and I'll see you next update!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our favorite felons get off the plane and are introduced to the Salt Squad. Mild shade is thrown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Welcome to Chapter 3!
> 
> Sorry for the long wait! I kind of lost track of time, and was hoping to finish all the chapters of everything else in time to post them all at once. This isn't happening, so I'm posting this. I finished Chapter 4 though, and may publish it within the week. Next week is Spring Break for me, so we might even get a Chapter 5! Don't get your hopes too high though; this is a hope.
> 
> Anyways, enough about me! I'll leave you to read this! Hope you enjoy!

‘If they’re gonna treat us like animals, we’re gonna act like animals’ was the last thing the group of young convicts had agreed upon before the doors to the plane opened. They’d been caged up for years, given food and water through a slot (except Horrificator was given dog bowls, which they deemed infuriating enough to deserve revenge), and some of them beaten and electrocuted into a fragile sense of obedience. Since that hellhole of a prison had treated them like wild dogs, they were going to punch, kick, bite, and scream the entire way there to make moving them from the plane to the chopping block as difficult for the guards as possible. Hopefully, one of them could then find an escape and they’d take their leave and return to their lives as normal.

Which was easier said than done, when the door opened to reveal three dozen bodyguards that looked like they could be professional American football linebackers. They were strong, sure, but with their shackles and no weapons to their advantage, they couldn’t compare to brute strength of government bodyguards. Every time they tried to squirm free or bite or kick, their grip just tightened until it was hard to move. Alya already knew her arm was going to bruise from this treatment; if she lived long enough for it to happen at all.

They were then pinned down to wheelchairs and strapped in, everything restrained from their necks to their ankles. Guards held their heads as men dressed in scrubs put some sort of gun to their necks. This was it then. They were being executed. By a gun to the neck? No way. That could totally miss the important parts, sure, it could paralyze them, but it might not kill them. Plus, it’d take an awful long while. Two minutes, maybe more. Sure, they’d be unconscious for a good while of it, but it’d probably still hurt a lot. A long, painful death; probably inhumane, but it's not as if anyone would know.

She felt herself tense up, as fear seized her chest for the first time in years. The doctors were all muttering amongst themselves as they carefully put their guns to each prisoner’s neck. Then a sharp pain seared through her neck, and Alya let out a shout. Wait. She wasn’t dying. The guards were already whisking them off to their next destination. What exactly was that?

“What exactly  _ was  _ that?” Nino asked. Well, glad they were all on the same page.

“A bomb.” a guard said offhandedly.

“A  _ what?! _ ” Alya shrieked. No way was  _ that  _ happening!! What about when they escape, were they just going to set it off?! Did it have a timer?! Was it going to mess with her tech?!

No time to ask. They were being wheeled into another room before they had the chance to ask any more questions. Soldiers lined the walls, all armed with guns, with three capsules between them. The capsules were filled with smoke, but you could just barely see figures inside them. Before anyone really had the chance to ask any questions about the capsules, they were opened. Three people fell out of them; a short boy with red hair, a tall girl with black and purple hair, and another average-height girl with blonde hair. They were around their age, at least they thought, and had that air around them; they were definitely criminals, if the jumpsuits had anything to say of them. But why were they transported in capsules when the rest of them were awake for their travels?

They woke up and prepared to fight, then realized something was missing? The redhead tried doing  _ something _ with his hands but near immediately one of the soldiers shouted… a prayer or something?--and the boy winced in pain. His two friends caught him, and they glared at their captors as they struggled to get a bearing of their surroundings.

That’s when  _ they  _ walked in. Four people, once again around their age, and a group of bodyguards behind them. They were important, yeah, and they were probably the reason they’d all been dragged here. If this was an execution, it was an awfully prolonged one, so Alya presumed that they were here for something else.

The blonde amongst the newcomers cleared her throat before speaking. “Alright, you lowlives, listen up! You work for me now, so stay on my good side and be quiet and don’t ask any questions until the end!” she paused a moment, glancing over at the shorter red-head beside her (though her hair was not nearly as red as capsule-boy’s), before continuing. “You guys probably haven’t heard, but there’s a big problem going on here in France. A bigger problem than you ever were. So we’re using you to fix it for us. Whenever one of the threats appears, we’ll send you out to help Ladybug and Chat Noir stop--”

A groan rippled across all of the villains in the room. All of them had a bone to pick with Ladybug and Chat Noir; they’re the ones who sent them to prison and put them in this mess. Why help them?!

“Okay, hang on, dudes, there’s  _ no way  _ I’m helping Ladybug and Chat Noir catch more of us, that’s against Thieves’ Code!” Nino loudly objected, hands gripping the arms of his wheelchair.

“Right, well, if you don’t want to die, I suggest you listen to me and do as I say, because I can set off those bombs in your neck within seconds and your dumbass Thieves Code won’t be shit, so don’t cross me and  _ listen up!!” _

Everyone was quiet. Chloe smirked before continuing. “You’ll be assisting Ladybug and Chat Noir with this project, and reporting all progress to us. During that period, you’ll be staying on base under 24 hour security watch, so don’t even think about trying to escape. If you cooperate and aren’t dead by the end of this operation, you’ll get ten years off your jail sentences and a few special privileges.“

“Hang on, hang on, hang on, what  _ kind  _ of ‘special privileges?’” the redhead asked.

“I dunno, letting you outside once a month or something in civilian clothes?” almost everyone’s jaws dropped. This was amazing, this was huge, this was--

“Chloe! We can’t do that!” one of the shorter agents, wearing glasses, objected.

“Why not?” Chloe took a nail file out of her pocket and began poring over her nails.

“It’s illegal!”

“We’re the  _ government,  _ Max, it doesn’t matter. Plus, it’s not like anyone will know. And if they misbehave, we’ve still got the remote control.” Chloe shrugged carelessly. Max let out a groan but shut up otherwise. “So, that’s the deal. You’ll be fighting akumas, and under government surveillance 24/7. In return, if you take the offer like smart people would, you’d earn yourself days out of the base. If you don’t, you’ll be sent back to Francois-Dupont Penitentiary, probably forever. So, what do you--”

“ _ Yes,”  _ Alix blurted out.

“Fucking deal!” Nino added.

“As long as we don’t go back in  _ those  _ again,” the taller, dark-haired capsule girl said.

“Also, I want my own room and art supplies for when we aren’t fighting with Lady-Bitch and Shit Noir.” the red head stated. At that, everyone else began making their own demands for various commodities and supplies.

“Hey!” the tall soldier behind Chloe shouted loudly, regaining everyone’s attention. “None of you meta-weirdoes are in any position to be making any demands! We aren’t doing you any more favors, so shut up and deal with it or we’ll send you back to the hellhole we fished you freaks out of!” The room was silent for a moment after that. Kim smirked for just a moment before his face went neutral again. “Now, all of you, single-file! Any of you misbehave on the way to your room, and you won’t see the light of day again.”

The criminals obeyed nervously. The soldiers had their guns pointed at them, after all, so none of them were too keen to fight back after being left powerless and defenseless in a room full of them. With ease, they were lead out of the room and to their new residence.

Chloe scoffed and turned to look at Max, raising a cocky eyebrow. “How’s that for an ‘intern’?”

Max sent her a look before sighing. “I mean, what exactly are you  _ wanting  _ to hear me say?”

“That it was amazing, spectacular, and that I totally deserve to be the head of this mission?”

“...I’m sorry. I’d rather not lie to my boss.” Max quirked his eyebrows for a moment, sending a snarky grin at her before turning around. Chloe stood there a moment in shock before turning.

“And where do you think you’re going?!”

The shorter boy turned in the doorway, looking up from his phone. “I’m going to go get these guys filed, contact our assistance, and go through things with Lila. You know. My job.”

He could hear Chloe’s indignant screeching from halfway down the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! My other stories will hopefully be updated within this month, if you're interested in catching up now. I also plan to upload a oneshot or two over the break as well.
> 
> Until then, see you next update! Hope you have a wonderful day!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max handles some business downstairs and discovers that their meta-human agents are being housed in the basement until "deemed trustworthy" by Chloe. He... he'd have to deal with that later.  
> Ladybug and Chat Noir already know about their plan with the former criminals and aren't too happy about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry.  
> Welcome back to The Disposables after a good 5 months of waiting for a new chapter? I totally thought I published this chapter already, I was about to publish Chapter 5 at like 12 am only to discover Chapter 4 had never been posted at all? I am so sorry.  
> I'm even more disappointed in myself because, of all the fics I forget to update, I forget to update my most popular fic on this entire site. Genius.  
> To make up for it, yall are getting 2 chapters at the same time because five months is a very long time holy mother of god  
> With that being said, here's the very very very long-awaited next chapter of The Disposables!  
> ~anipwrites

When he approached Lila, she was handling the latest delivery of bakery goods. The delivery girl, Marinette, was a common sight in the Agency building. The Dupain-Cheng boulangerie-patisserie was humble, but also one of the best bakeries in all of Paris. They often ordered bread and croissants for breakfast, and pastries for a sweet bite to go along with lunch. In fact, Max was pretty sure that Chief Bourgeois had the store's number on speed dial. It was definitely bookmarked on his phone, and the office phones of just about every office he'd been in during his career there.

"Max, are these macarons yours?" Lila asked.

"No, but they're gonna' be if the owner doesn't get here in five minutes."

Marinette giggled a bit. "But didn't you just stop by for some this morning?"

Max shrugged. The bakery  _was_ on his way to work, so he tended to drop in and stock up on sweets to help him power through the day. "Maybe I did. But let's be honest, who's going to turn down fresh macarons from the Dupain-Chengs. Only a madman wouldn't come running when they find out that--"

The speaker at Lila's desk buzzed. "Ms. Rossi, has my delivery from the Dupain-Chengs arrived?"

"There's the mad man," Lila snorted before pressing the 'speak' button. "Yes, they're here, sir."

"Have the delivery girl bring them up to my office, please?"

"Yes, sir." Lila says before looking up at Marinette. "You know where Chief Bourgeois' office is, you can take yourself up there."

"Alright!" she said before walking to the elevator. Max's jaw dropped.

"Wait, that was  _Chief Bourgeois?_ " he gaped. Lila nodded affirmatively. "And he just lets bakery girls go up to his office, probably with all kinds of top-secret information and government plans in it, to deliver macarons?!"

"To be fair, you let her up into your office,"

"Yeah, but I stop her at the door! You know Chief Bourgeois doesn't get up from his desk unless he absolutely  _has_ to!"

Lila shrugged. "He's the boss. I don't question it, I just work. Now, did you come down for something?"

"Right! Well, Chief Bourgeois and his daughter started a new plan to defeat the akumas, and I need to get the new agents in the system. I already copied their files, so I can do my end and you can do yours?"

"Right, of course. When are they coming in?"

"They're already in."

"...I didn't see anyone new sign in?" Lila looked in the folder Max handed her to see if she could recognize a face, and her eyes widened. "These are criminals."

"Yeah."

"Bourgeois' plan is to hire criminals for the agency?! What for?!" she gaped.

"Apparently the grand plan is to send them to help Ladybug and Chat Noir with all the akuma attacks, and see if they can figure out some stuff the investigation team hasn't been able to. Then they're going to take the credit for it."

"That's ridiculous, who's to say we can  _trust_ them?!"

"Who knows? It's not their best plan, but we kind of have to go along with it."

"Do Ladybug and Chat Noir know about it?"

"We have no direct line of communication, not one that I'd know of, so I highly doubt it. I predict it's going to be a disaster, but--"

"Excuse me?" they both looked up to see Marinette standing there. "I'm finished. Did you already get the cost of the food?"

"Oh, yeah, it's on the weekly tab." Lila nodded. Marinette sighed.

"And can you maybe, I dunno, see if you can get an order list? Every time I come here with an order, I come back with ten more, and the back and forth uses a ton of gas. I mean, if you can't, it's fine, but--"

"Oh, no worries, I'm on it." Lila smiled. Marinette grinned.

"Thanks! Have a nice day!"

"Thanks, you too,"

"Bye, Max!" she said, waving as she headed out the door.

"See ya!" he said. Marinette was halfway out the door before her foot caught on the edge of the door and she tripped, flailing before catching herself.

"I'm okay!" she called out before the door closed. Max bit back a snicker. Marinette was a wonderful baker, and an amazing delivery girl, but was also a huge klutz.

"This plan is totally crazy, but I'll get them in the system. Where are they even going to stay?" Lila sighed.

"One of the residential halls, I think? Chloe didn't talk about it much."

"Wait, is  _Chloe_ heading this thing?!" Max heaved a heavy sigh and nodded.

"It's torture. Torture I'm getting paid for. In fact, I think I'm supposed to check up on them now."

"If you can find them," Lila stated.

"Yeah. Who bets they're in the basement?"

"Honestly? I'd check there first."

"Alright, I'll do my side of the registry in a few." Max turned on his heel and headed straight for the elevators.

"See you," Lila called out after him. As soon as she was gone and the lobby was empty, she picked up the phone. She had a call to make.

* * *

 

"You mean we have to share  _this?_ " Nino gaped, looking at the room before him.

"You mean you expect me to live in  _this?!_ " Alya shouted, glaring at the room before her.

The rest of their little group couldn't help but agree. They had been taken to the basement floor of the establishment, complete with puddles and leaky pipes and little to no lighting. It smelled bad too, like mildew and rat poop. Even Kim wrinkled his nose at the scent.

"...It's where Chloe said you'll have to stay until you prove yourselves to be trustworthy. So you can either deal with it and hope an akuma attacks sooner rather than later, or go back to the penitentiary--"

"Nah, I'll just deal with the rats, thanks." Alya huffed, stepping inside and claiming a dry spot for herself. No one was really happy with it, but they obliged nonetheless. They didn't really have much of a choice, now did they?

The guards supplied them with pillows and blankets, but not much else. And when they closed and locked the door, the group was quick to realize the blankets weren't quite thick enough to stave off the chill. They had to huddle together in order to stay warm.

"So, who the fuck are you?" Alix suddenly asked, looking at the three newest additions to their criminal group.

"Real names, or crime names?" The short blonde one asked.

"Crime names first, duh."

"Alright, so I'm Princess Fragrance, this is my girlfriend Reflekta, and this is--"

"Wait, like, 'The Splotches' Princess Fragrance and Reflekta,  _that_ Princess Fragrance and Reflekta?!" Alix's jaw dropped. The two girls nodded, so she turned to the red-head. "So that means  _you're_ the Evillustrator?!"

The boy shrugged. "Evillustrator, Dessinateur, I go by either one."

"How'd you go without being caught for so long?" Alya asked.

"To be completely honest, it was a bit of work. We killed all witnesses, or sent then to our commissioners to deal with, for one."

"Or we'd drop false leads. D'ya know how many redheads and blondes got arrested because of us?" Princess Fragrance giggled.

"And we destroyed all evidence. Sometimes it could take hours. You gotta destroy cameras, then find and destroy the footage. Make sure nobody was recording you on anything else, shit like that." Reflekta said.

"If you were so careful, how'd you get caught?" Ivan asked.

"Well, we needed to get money elsewhere, because not all offers were up to our standards. Dessi sold paintings, Princess worked at a Lush downtown, and I worked at a bookstore-cafe joint. We don't know if one of our coworkers found out and reported us, or if we missed some cameras, but eventually they tricked us."

"They made us think they were a new commission, sent us to a bombed bank--" The Evillustrator began.

"Francis and Lloyd Financial?" Mylene asked suddenly.

"Yeah, that's the one,"

"No way, we bombed that joint a year and a half ago! They never rebuilt it?!" Alix grinned.

"Nah, they were funneling so much money towards hunting  _us_ down, and some other metas, they didn't find the time. And--shut the fuck up."

"What did I say?"

"No, not you, Ink." Reflekta stated.

"Who's Ink?"

"Ink is a long and irritating story I don't feel like talking about right now, I'll tell you later maybe. Anyways, we get to the bank and who else is there but Ladybug and Chat Noir. And the rest is history."

Everyone in the room groaned at the mention of Ladybug and Chat Noir. No one was particularly a fan of the two spandex-clad heroes who had brought them all into this mess in the first place.

"My 'friend' ratted me out for a day hanging out with those two and a fifteen-minute spot on the news." Nino growled with a roll of his eyes.

"They tracked us down and arrested us and all of my father's associates after we robbed a bank," Mylene sighed.

"They happened to catch me in the middle of a job while they were on patrol." Alya muttered.

"It's too damn cold in here," Ivan grumbled, trying to wrap his small blanket around his shoulders and not really succeeding.

Suddenly a crack of light spilled into the room. Everyone turned to the door to see one of the agents-- the blonde had called him Max earlier?-- peeking in. He finally saw them and scowled.

"Seriously? She put you guys in here?" he sighed.

"Yup. At least until we 'prove ourselves to be trustworthy,'" Alya said with air quotes.

"At least that's what Buff Prick said." Alix added.

"'Buff Prick' would be Kim. He's not all bad, he just has a crush on Chloe for whatever reason."

"Chloe seems almost worse than Ladybug and Chat Noir together, and I didn't think that was possible," Nino said.

"If there wasn't a bomb in my neck, I swear to god I'd stab her without a second thought." Reflekta said with a roll of her eyes and a deep sigh.

"Oh, trust me, I would too if I could keep my job." Max quipped. "I'll go find you guys some food and see about getting you an actual room."

"Do you have any better blankets?" Ivan asked.

"I'll check on that too." at that, Max closed the door again, leaving them in darkness yet again.

"...anyone know some scary stories?" Alix asked.

"Ooh, I think I know a few," Reflekta said, turning on her flashlight and leaning forward. "It was a dark and spooky--"

" _Aah!_ "

"It's a bit early to be screaming, don't you think, Wifi?" Nino turned to see Alya having jumped to her feet. He swung his flashlight around to see a rat scuttling around. The sight of it made Princess Fragrance scream and clutch Reflekta's clothes. "Aw, come on guys, it's just a rat,"

"Rats bite people!" Fragrance shouted.

"Eh, this one's not so bad," Ivan said, taking the rat into his hands. It sniffed at his hand, tail swishing to and fro. Alya shuddered.

"That's disgusting,"

"Eh, Big Boy and I are used to rats." Nino shrugged. "Now, about that scary story?"

Ivan set the rat on his shoulder before turning attentively to Reflekta. The girl was perplexed for a moment before continuing. "So, it was a dark and spooky night. A rag-tag team of kids had decided to venture into a haunted house. When they opened the door, bats flew out and got tangled in their hair! Candlesticks seemed to move on their own, and the lanterns flickered before going out, leaving them in the dark. They tried to find their way out, but only ended up getting lost further and further into the manor. Eventually, they found themselves in the basement, but before they could leave  _bam!_ " Mylene jumped at the sudden shout. "The door closed shut. One of them tried the door, but it was no use; it was locked shut, and covered in an inky black. There was nothing to do but wait for whatever being inhabited the house. They waited for hours and hours, and yet the night seemed eternal, it seemed to never end. Finally, they heard it. Footsteps, heavy footsteps, creaking on the old wood floors above them. Suddenly, the door creaked open, to reveal--"

"Hey,"

" _AAH!_ " The delinquents in the room screamed at the sudden voice.

" _Aah!_ " Max jumped, practically leaping into the arms of Agent Kim, forcing him to drop the blankets and food. The rat, interested in getting away from screaming kids and towards fresh food, skittered forwards, leading to Kim screaming and stepping back, dropping Max to the ground with a hard thud. When they realized what exactly had happened in those few chaotic seconds, they all burst into a fit of laughter.

"Yeah, haha, very funny," Kim grumbled, sitting up and brushing himself off. "Let me get a gun to kill that rat."

"No way! That rat's mine!" Ivan protested.

"What now?" Alya deadpanned.

"It's a  _rat_  though!" Kim argued.

"My rat."

"Okay, okay!" Max interrupted. "You want the rat, keep the rat. We've brought food, blankets, extra water, and a few lanterns for you all. We also have a walkie talkie, so you can let us know if you need anything. Please only use it if you need something, and nothing else."

"I promise we won't use it for prank calling or bugging Chloe." Alix said, holding a hand up in the air. "Thief's honor."

"Somehow that doesn't comfort me on the matter. Just-- we'll work on getting you better rooms. Don't wreck everything,"

"We'll try," Ivan nodded. Max slowly closed the door before he and Kim proceeded down the hallway. Neither agent said a word for a few moments, Max tapping away on his phone and Kim thinking over… something.

"Hey, Max?" Kim eventually asked, breaking the silence. Max looked up from his phone to acknowledge him. "...Why do you trust these guys so much? Why are you trying to do so much for them?"

"Well…" Max frowned a moment. "They  _are_ people, they deserve rooms and baths and such. As far as trusting them… I mean… do we really have any other choice?"

"...suppose not,"

* * *

All was dark in the Parisian streets at this time of night. Aside from a few bustling late-night restaurants and a few citizens walking home, the town was sleepy and quiet. Over the rooftops, a dark shape bounded across to join another atop the Le Grand Paris Hotel, in a silent watch over the beloved city.

"Greetings, milady," Chat Noir purred, bowing dramatically as he greeted his partner.

"Hello, Chat," Ladybug said, her voice terse. Chat's ears pricked up, tail swishing to and fro.

"Is something the matter, Bug?" the spotted Heroine of Paris sighed and turned to face her partner.

"I was in the Meta-Human Threats Department building earlier today, and I heard something...worrying."

"I still don't understand how you manage to get in there as a civilian! I heard security was through the roof! Do you work there?" Chat asked. Ladybug giggled a moment.

"Now now, Chaton, we promised not to tell each other where we work as civilians! In any sense, I don't work there." she bopped his nose a moment before continuing. "Anyhow, I managed to hear that they had actually taken some of the villains out of the Francois-Dupont and are aiming to have them team up with us, help us get to the bottom of this whole 'Akuma' thing…"

"Oh! Well, that's great, isn't it?! I mean, we haven't been able to figure it out yet, so with more people thinking and helping us cure them, then maybe we can figure out where and how--"

"Chat! These are criminals! I-- I don't think we can trust them! I don't know what has gotten into Bourgeois' brain with this, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with--"

"Hey…" Chat tapped her shoulder and pointed to a group of dark figures approaching them from the next rooftop. Ladybug immediately whipped out her yoyo and spun it to form a shield, wary of the newcomers. Chat followed her lead, baton poised for fighting. One figure broke from the group and went to the edge of the roof, where they could better see his face.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir! We are from the Defense Against Villainous Meta-Human Threats Department, to make a compromise!" the man called out across the gap. Ladybug hesitated a moment, her yoyo continuing to spin in wide pink arcs before eventually slowing to a stop. The two partners approached the edge of their own roof.

"A compromise? What are you offering?" Ladybug asked. The two of them both knew what the agents were offering at this point, but feigning surprise would prevent them from trying to hound down Ladybug's civilian identity.

"We have some… new agents, who we plan to have help us both find a solution to the A.K.U.M.A situation." the agent presented a collection of manila folders, presumably with copies of the agent's information.

"Those are awfully thick folders for new agents. Most others you've given us had maybe three papers in them," Chat Noir teased. The agent scowled.

"These agents are… not the usual kind of agents. You are already familiar with them. Bourgeois decided to get these agents from a new source."

Chat turned to Ladybug. "Should we cross, Milady?"

Ladybug nodded. "We need those files,"

The two heroes of Paris used their tools to cross the gap between the two buildings to stand beside the new agent. The Lady in Red took the files and began leafing through them, while Chat leaned on his baton, keeping an eye on the rest of the agents but stealing a glance at the files every so-often. Neither one of them quite trusted the Agency to not try to ambush them one day, and with so many agents here for only one to talk with them it was a bit… suspicious.

From the glances he managed to steal into the folder, the villains they chose weren't the  _most_ dangerous of all they've fought, but… they were all ones who'd have pretty strong vendettas against them….

"How do we know we can trust them not to turn on us?" Ladybug asked before he could, looking the agent straight in the eye. The agent hesitated a moment.

"We have grounds in place to prevent them from doing so,"

"Such as?"

"That information's classified," the man quickly interjected. "Is that all the questions you have?"

"...Yeah. Thank you. Tell them to meet us here for our next patrol, if we don't see one another in battle first." Ladybug swung across the gap between the roofs before turning to wait for Chat. Chat sent them all a glare, complete with the 'I've got my eyes on you' fingers before joining his Lady. The two quickly left the scene, retreating to a more private place to look over the files. The agents watched them disappear before contacting their leader.

"Sir," the main agent said into a walkie talkie. "We have successfully contacted Ladybug and Chat Noir and explained the situation,"

"Good," the officer said from the other side. "I'll inform Chief Bourgeois in the morning. Return to base, you're done for the night,"

The agents climbed down the building and made their way back to the Department building, leaving the rooftops of Paris silent once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Click on ahead for Chapter 5! More detailed author's notes will be there. Again, sorry about the wait!  
> This chapter was beta-read by Wishfulina and Flautist4ever on Tumblr! Go give them a follow!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new akuma appears, finally giving our favorite agents a chance to prove themselves and get an actual room--if they make it out alive. Time to get debriefed and receive their weapons before heading out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 5! Sorry, again, for the long wait! I got so so so stuck on what to do here (I technically am stuck on the next chapter too, though hopefully we won't have to wait ALMOST FIVE MONTHS TO FIND OUT HOLY MOTHER OF GOD)  
> Any who, here's the also very very long-awaited next chapter of The Disposables! Thanks to everyone for sticking around!  
> ~anipwrites

Aurore Beauréal prided herself in two things: her good looks, and her strength. She worked hard for what she wanted until she got it. And she never,  _never_ , let herself get weak.

But, it was hard. Especially now--she had worked so hard.  _So hard._ Years of work into being the best hostess, years of research into being the best weather girl she could be. She'd seen her chance--a contest to be the next weather girl for Kids+ TV, after the last one aged out to their other channel--and taken it! Made it all the way to the final two, even! But it wasn't enough.

She stormed out of the studio room, parasol clenched in her hand like a lifeline, as the host congratulated  _someone else_  on their win. She'd failed, she'd lost--by half a million votes, Alec was quick to inform her. She just wasn't good enough, apparently, all her hard work was for nothing. She'd have to start at square one all over again, from scratch, but how?! No one wanted a  _loser_  on their channel--her dream was done for.

The elevator doors closed before her, and only then did she finally let herself break. She didn't want to, but she couldn't help it, she felt so hopeless. Every tear Aurore tried to wipe away only brought forth more and more. All that hard work for nothing! Nothing!  _She was nothing!_

Suddenly the elevator stopped, lurching her to the floor. The lights flickered off, then only to a broken purple glow. She tried to find her footing and get to the emergency call button, hoping this was just some sick prank. The hair on her arms and neck seemed to lift, a sense of danger in the air, and she wanted  _out._

Her heart began to thud in her chest as black and purple wings began to squeeze their way through the elevator doors. A butterfly--an akuma--was after her. She tried to keep it away with her parasol until she could get to the call button, but suddenly it was gone and…

"Stormy Weather. I am Hawkmoth. I am giving you the chance to become the weather girl you really are, and take revenge on Mirelle--you just need to grab a few things for me. Do we have a deal?"

* * *

"So, what's happening again?" Chloe asked as she and the rest of the group headed to the discussion room, where their newest 'agents' were waiting for their debriefing.

Max sighed, rubbing his temple as he looked down at the sheets of information before him. "Just let me--"

"Max, Chloe is the one in charge of this operation, just let her tell them." Kim said.

"But--"

"Bro. come on."

"Fine. A new akuma's appeared in the 21st arrondissement, calling herself Stormy Weather. She appears to have weather-controlling abilities, and has already started holding people hostage in blocks of ice. Which, as you might expect, poses an  _extreme_ health and safety issue. We need to--"

"Right, okay, got it."

"Uhm, I'm not done, Chlo--"

"Alright, meta-freaks, you already know what you're here to do, so  _listen up!_ " Chloe demanded as she threw the doors open and entered the room. The group of criminals looked up from their conversation at her entrance.

"Finally going to tell us why we're here?" Alya asked with a raised eyebrow, turning in her seat.

"Yes, if you would shut your mouth and listen up! There's an akuma on the loose, and--"

"So we're being sent on a suicide mission to go handle it, okay, let's go." Nino said, standing up.

"Hey! Shut up and listen to your debriefing!" Kim ordered, arms crossed and sending a poisonous glare his way. Nino sighed, remembering that he had the control to the bomb in his neck, and sat down.

"Thanks, Kim." Chloe sent him a small smirk, nearly sending the general into a swoon. "Anyways, the akuma has the power to control the weather, so--"

"What's she gonna do, make everything sunshine and rainbows?" Le Dessinateur muttered. Reflekta grinned at the comment, and Princess Fragrance let out a giggle.

"Go in with that attitude and you'll get struck by lightning," Max said, only to be spoken over by a growl from his coworker.

"Maybe I could  _tell you_  if you all would just  _shut your damn--_ "

"Guys. Lets just let her finish so we can get the hell out of the basement and get an  _actual room_." Alix suggested, sending a pointed glare the blonde's way as she finished.

"...right. The akuma is icing people into buildings and blocks of ice, essentially holding the entire 21st arrondissement of Paris hostage. So your job is to go and handle it. Y'know."

"And are Ladybug and Chat Noir going to be there?" Alya sighed. "Or, are they  _already_  there? This is  _their job,_ after all."

"Oh. uh…"

"They're already on the scene, but between rescuing hostages and avoiding her attacks, it's taking a lot out of them. Chat Noir has already used Cataclysm twice." Max stated.

"A-and Chloe was just about to say exactly that!" Sabrina piped up from her friend's side.

"Yes, yes, of course I was, because  _I'm the debriefer._ " Chloe sent a nasty glare Max's way, but the boy wasn't fazed by it at all and simply kept going.

"General Kim will be coming with you, with a squad of his own men, to keep an eye out for you guys and help with rescuing hostages." Max sent a glance Kim's way, who puffed out his chest dramatically.

"Keeping an eye out  _for_  us or  _on_ us? It's not exactly a secret you don't trust us." the Bubbler questioned.

"Alright, then, both, since we're being honest. While we're at it, remember that we do have a remote control that can set off a bomb in your neck, so any sort of rebellion won't end well for any of you. Now, let's go suit up, shall we?"

The entire squad was silent for a good minute. Max signaled for Kim and the rest of the agents to follow him to where the uniforms and weapons were being stored.

"Some pep talk  _that_  was," Ivan finally mumbled.

"Glad you were listening," Max said. He opened the door to the room (which, Nino was beginning to notice, had steel doors) and stepped in, inviting the others to follow.

"No way! That's my outfit!" Fragrance squealed, rushing over to the glass case their costumes were being housed in. the two agents opened up a vault and started bringing out metal suitcases, opening them to reveal their weapons.

"Hey, you guys saved my arm!" Alya grinned, rushing over.

"I can help you put it back on," Max offered. The girl hesitated a moment before accepting.

Nino smirked as the glass wall opened up, allowing him to grab his hoodie and black pants. Beside him, Ivan was reclaiming his sleeveless hoodie and muscling it on.

"You look nice, Ivan," Nino grinned. Ivan offered his own smile.

"It's good to be back in business. Nice hoodie."

"Ha! Haha! Yes, yes, yes!" the Evillustrator surged into the the case and grabbed his costume, and Princess Fragrance's and Reflekta's, before jumping back out. Nino took a cautious step back when he saw the inky black that seemed to be covering his face and forearms. "We're back in business!"

"We are, indeed, Dessi. However, I suggest you reign Ink under control before something undesirable happens to all of us." Reflekta said, waving a hand around her face. Le Dessinateur took a deep breath and nodded, the blackness beginning to subside.

"Hey, Evillustrator, where's your weapons? You don't have a case." Alix asked.

"Well, I--"

"Le Dessinateur doesn't use weapons--his most common attack is strangulation using his hands, or taking advantage of his ink powers to turn shadows into ink and entrap his enemies or suffocate them." Max stated, hands behind his back. Everyone stared a moment.

"You know a lot about us, don't you?" Mylene said.

"It's my job, asides from basic IT. I'll leave you all to suit up--after you finish, you'll be taken to the transport bay. There, Kim and his squad will be driving you all to the scene. Oh, and take these." the shorter agent reached into another case and pulled out communicator headsets. "I'll be with you the whole way, helping the best I can. You'll want to keep these on."

"Got it," Alix gave a thumbs up and a smirk. Max nodded and exited the room, Kim tailing behind him.

"How likely do you think it is that we're going to die?" Mylene asked. Alya scoffed.

"Highly likely," she said.

"Yeah, we're the disposable agents--they don't really want us here, we don't really want to  _be_ here. They just need someone to send onto the front lines that no one really cares about, so if we die no one's bothered." Nino sighed.

"Let's make sure it backfires. I don't want the last night of my life to be spent in a government basement with no arm."

"Right. We're getting out of this alive. Who's with me?" they all shared a look, and they all knew that whatever this fight brought them, they were making it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there's the chapter! I really hope you guys enjoyed it! Feel more than free to let me know what you think!  
> I'll be posting the first chapter to a Lucio-centric Overwatch fanfiction sometime this month, though school does start again for me this Monday (I've got four days left of freedom and I'm SO NOT READY FOR COLLEGE PREP HELL) so I'll probably find myself swamped before I know it. Please be as patient as possible regarding updates, I do my best to not leave any fics unfinished and will definitely warn you before I do. Pretty determined to finish all the ones I have up here, at least.  
> With that being said, I hope you all have a wonderful day! And, for those of you in school, I hope this year goes well for you!  
> This chapter was beta-read by Wishfulina, Flautist4Ever, and grapeflavoredsoul, all of who can be found on Tumblr!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys are liking the story so far! Comments are appreciated!  
> Follow Tides on Tumblr at [tides-miraculous](http://tides-miraculous.tumblr.com/)  
> Follow wishfulina on Tumblr at [wishfulina](http://wishfulina.tumblr.com/)  
> Follow flautist4ever on Tumblr at [flautist4ever](http://flautist4ever.tumblr.com/)  
> Or follow me at [anipwrites](http://anipwrites.tumblr.com/), or my art-only blog [anip-art!](http://anip-art.tumblr.com/)  
> I hope you all have a wonderful day!


End file.
